Enrollment at Thompson Rivers University Open Learning surpasses the rates of other provincial universities.

Since May 2012 TRU-OL has recorded a seven per cent growth in enrolments within B.C. and a 15 per cent growth in Canadian students from outside B.C. for an overall growth rate of just under nine percent.

“We see this ‘outside B.C.’ growth as a positive indication of the growing national reputation of TRU,” said Gordon Tarzwell, Vice Provost – TRU Open Learning. “Furthermore, the overall growth demonstrates the value that TRU is providing to students who are looking for distance and open education.”

According to Tarzwell the key to ongoing success will be the new programs being prepared for distance enrollment that take advantage of campus collaborations. Some of the new program offerings from TRU-OL include

TRU-OL and the Faculty of Arts are re-introducing an opportunity for students to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology. The BA degree can be completed through a variety of pathways and is one of the first truly blended and inter-disciplinary Arts programs offered through TRU-OL. TRU students can complete degree requirements through a combination of campus offerings and online through OL. The program is structured to allow ample laddering opportunities for students from TRU and other institutions in British Columbia such as those in TRU’s Police and Justice Studies. We anticipate the start date for the program to be mid-February. For more information consult the TRU-OL website or contact AdvisorC@tru.ca

At the graduate level TRU-OL and the School of Business and Economics are developing distance versions for all of the Masters of Business Administration courses.  It is anticipated that students entering the MBA program by September of this year will have the opportunity to complete some, or all, of their MBA at a distance. The ability for students to be able to complete all MBA requirements online will represent the first time this is possible within the Canadian education market and is seen as a great advantage for TRU.

Planning has begun to develop distance versions for the courses within the Masters of Education for students interested in the educational leadership concentration.  This will allow students to complete the M.Ed. completely at a distance for those students wishing to do the educational leadership concentration.  The other concentrations within the M.Ed. will be added in future years.  The first of these courses are anticipated in September of this year.